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GENTREE - Optimising the management and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe

GENTREE - Optimising the management and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe

The forestry community is becoming increasingly aware that conservation and breeding efforts target only a limited fraction of the forest genetic resources (FGR) available across species ranges and ecological niches in Europe. The overall goal of GenTree is to provide the European forestry sector with better knowledge, methods and tools to improve the conservation and use of adapted and genetically diverse FGR in European forests in the context of global environmental change and evolving societal demands for a diversified range of forest products and services.

To reach its goal, GenTree will make scientific, technological and implementation breakthroughs in:

The design of innovative strategies for conserving FGR in European forests

Broadening the range of FGR used in European breeding programmes

The integration of conservation and breeding strategies to provide a new framework for the development of adaptive forest management

EFI leads the Work package 5 on “Adapting management and policies to optimize the use of FGR”.The main goal of this work package is to develop recommendations for the integration of the GenTree conservation and breeding strategies into a framework of adaptive forest management and policy instruments, using analytical approaches and scenario assessments. The specific objectives of this work package are:

Place all proposed FGR conservation and management techniques into context with existing and proposed management strategies and policy regimes

Investigate through computer simulations the effects of forestry practices on evolutionary processes and connect these effects with FGR management in the context of climate change

Analyze EU and national forest-related policy frameworks and their influence on FGR conservation and management to unravel implementation barriers from the political onto the practical level